Adjustable chair



June 18, 1957 Filed Nov. 26. 1954 v. L. WILLIAMS 2,796,114

ADJUSTABLE CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

. wees/MIA L'. WILLIAMS .4 TTaE'A/EKS June 18, 1957 v. WILLIAMS 2,796,114

ADJUSTABLE CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 26, 1954 INVENTOR.

a5 .vle'emm I... waLLmMs l/ 3 BY I v I w mmflmohcfim ATTOQ N E (5 United States Patent ADJUSTABLE CHA-IR Virginia L. Williams, Charleston, Miss.

Application November 26, 1954, Serial No. 471,335

2 Claims. (Cl. 155"-25) This invention is a beauty shopor'barbers chair having an elevat-able seat on a supporting frame, and aback pivoted on the frame for adjustment to selected reclining positions, and characterized by its not being elevated or lowered with the seat.

Particularly in beauty shops, it is difficult to shampoo or style ones hair when the seat is elevated. This is true, for instance, in the case of children having their hair shampooed or styled. Usually the back is connected to the seat for up and down adjustment therewith. As a result, in such instances the back, even when adjusted to its reclining position, is too high to permit a shampoo bowl to be accommodated under the customers head.

Objects of the invention, accordingly are to permit vertical adjustment of the seat without resulting in similar adjustment of the seat back; to permit swingable adjustment of the seat back to selected reclining positions independently of the vertical adjustment of the seat; and to provide a chair having these desirable characteristics which will still be comfortable, rugged, and capable of manufacture at relatively low cost.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawings, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view, the dotted lines showing the seat elevated and the back in reclining posinon;

Figure 2 is a rear elevational view in which the portion of the back has been broken away;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on 'line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged, detail section on line 44 of Figure 2; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view on line 55 of Figure l.

The chair includes five main components, a support frame 1s, a seat assembly 12, a back assembly 14, a jack mechanism 16, and a lock assembly 18. Each will be described in turn.

The support frame is formed at its lower end with a centrally disposed, rectangular, jack mechanism support block 20. Radiating from and fixedly secured at their inner ends to the sides of block 20 are bottom braces 22 angularly spaced 90 apart and disposed in a common horizontal plane. Two of the braces project forwardly and two rearwardly, and to the outer ends of the front and rear braces are fixed the lower end portions of front legs 24 and rear legs 26 respectively. Legs 24 are vertical, while legs 26 are inclined.

Legs 26, at their upper ends, merge into vertical rear leg extensions 28, and the extension 28 and the front leg at each side of the chair merge at their upper ends into an arm rest 30 equipped with a cushion 32 and inclined slightly from the horizontal. Thus, at each side of the chair there is an inverted U-shaped frame member the bight of which forms an arm rest and the legs of which have vertical portions depending from opposite ends of the bight.

2 ,7' 6l Patented J mine 2 18, .1957

2 The seat assemb1y12 includes a seat 34 which can be cushioned, provided with springing, or otherwise fashioned, said seat lying in a horizontal plane between the inverted U-shapedframe members. Adjacent the front thereof, seat 34 is provided at its opposite sides with vertical sleeves 36 receiving and sliding on the front legs 24. The sleeves are screwed or otherwise fixed to seat 34. Adjacent its back edge, seat 34 is'provide'd with vertical sleeves 38 sliding on the vertical portions 38 of the rear legs.

The back assembly 14 includes a seat back 40 and extending .horizontally of the lower portion of the seat back is a pivot shaft 42 having projecting ends formed with forwardly extending .arms 44 terminating at their front .ends in inwardly extended (Figure 3), reduced trunnions -46 engaged in openings formed in the leg portions 28. The'rear sleeves 38 are split from end to end to permit adjustment of the rear sleeves past the trunnions as for example to'the dotted'line position shown in Figure 1 when the seat 34 is elevated.

Fixedly secured to the back surface of the seat back, medially between the opposite sides of the seat back, are rearwardly projecting angle brackets 50 between which extends a horizontally disposed pivot pin 52 passing through a block 54 embraced by the brackets 50 to hinge the block to the brackets. Block 54 has a longitudinal, end to end bore 56 in which slides a lock rod 58 pivotally connected at 64 at its lower end to and between angle brackets 62 bolted to the upper end of a vertical bracket support arm 64, the lower end of which is bolted to a horizontally extending brace plate 66 (Figure 2), extending between and welded at its opposite ends to rear legs 26. A longitudinal series of transversely extending teeth 68, formed on the rod 58, are selectively engageable by a pointed detent 70 (Figure 4), slidable in a transverse bore of block 54 and projecting rearwardly of the block. On the rearwardly projecting end of the detent there is provided a hand knob 72.

Parallel to the detent is a stem 74, having an inner, headed and 76, engaged in a cavity formed in block 54. Stem 74, at its other end, has a spring 78 coiled thereabout within a cavity 80 of knob 72, the spring being held under compression between one end wall of cavity 80, and a head 82 on the stem. The spring biases the detent into engagement with the selected tooth 68, but the knob 72 can be pulled outwardly to disengage the detent against the restraint of the spring, to permit the swingable adjustment of the seat back about the axis of pivot shaft 42 to selected positions, in each of which the seat back is locked on release of the detent.

The jack mechanism 16 is illustrated as a conventional hydraulic jack. It is supported upon block 20, with its ram engaging against the underside of seat 34, whereby to raise and lower the seat by hydraulic means. The jack mechanism need not necessarily be hydraulic, and further, it can be, per se, any of various conventional jacks, including that used on barber chairs having a handle at one side of the chair conveniently disposed for operation by a user.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A chair comprising a stationary support frame ineluding vertically disposed, front and rear side frame members; a seat assembly extending between and having a slidable connection to the front and rear members; a pivot shaft extending horizontally between and having a connection at its ends to the rear frame members rearwardly of the path of sliding movementof the seat assembly; a back assembly pivotally mounted on said shaft 2. jack mechanism operatively connected to the seat assembly for raising and lowering the latter; means for locking the back assembly in selected positions to which it is adjusted, said last named means embodying a block connected to said back assembly for movement about a horizontal axis, a lock rod arranged in an upwardly direction positioned rearwardly of said back assembly and extending slidably through said block, the lower end of said rod being pivotally connected to the rear frame members, and a detent carried by said block and selectively engageable with teeth formed on said lock rod.

2. A chair comprising a stationary support frame including vertically disposed front and rear side frame members; a seat assembly disposed between the front and rear members; vertical sleeves on the sides of the seat assembly slidably engaged about the several frame members; a pivot shaft extending horizontally between the rear frame members rearwardly of the path of sliding movement of the seat assembly and including at its ends forwardly projecting extensions terminating at their front ends in inwardly turned trunnions engaged in the rear frame members, the sleeves sliding on the rear members having longitudinal slots receiving the trunnions to permit vertical adjustment of the seat assembly above the t-runnions; a back assembly pivotally mounted on said shaft; means to raise and lower the seat assembly; and means for locking the back assembly in selected positions to which it is adjusted.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 980,049 Beyer Dec. 27, 1910 1,029,315 Poll June 11, 1912 1,964,187 Seitz June 26, 1934 20 2,362,466 Carter Nov. 14, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS 595,508 Great Britain Dec. 8, 1947 

